Our Couches, Ourselves

For years, I surveyed my living room from a Danish modern knockoff, long and low as a boat, which I picked up for $100 at a used furniture store. When one of the legs broke, I tucked some books underneath and favored the good side. It seemed like a practical solution. Couches take heaps of abuse (mine do, anyway): absorbing spills, collecting pet hair, doubling as beds for stray friends. In the fleet of living room furniture, they are family vehicles. Why spend a fortune on a Caravan?

There are those who would argue that a great piece of seating lasts a lifetime, but who wants to make that kind of commitment to a couch? Is it going to be passed down to successive generations? You never hear children fighting over who gets the sectional.

I chose my couch by going to Crate & Barrel to look at couches and sit on them (and because I once read on Apartment Therapy that the couches at Crate & Barrel are pretty good for their money). I found a model I liked that had a price tag of $1,200, and then went on Craigslist and found the same one, barely used for $300 because its owner was relocating and selling everything at low prices to get rid of all of her stuff. I’m happy with the couch. I’d do the same thing all over again if I needed to get it replaced.